Reham to never contest polls, says Imran

ISLAMABAD: Fallout in NA-19 Haripur election results appeared on social media forums on Tuesday, when PTI Chief Imran Khan stated on his official twitter account that his wife Reham Khan will never contest elections on party ticket whereas Reham tweeted that she had many offers of contesting elections from different political parties before marrying Imran.
Earlier, Imran on his official twitter account tweeted, “Reham Khan will not contest elections on a PTI ticket.” The next minute, the PTI chief tweeted again to say, “PTI is opposed to all forms of nepotism. Reham Khan will not hold no party position, no position in KP; nor will be given any official protocol.”
Reham, on her official twitter account, tweeted, “I had declined invitations for candidacy from political parties long before getting married to Imran Khan.”She further tweeted, “I have supported others but have never sought the support of others to achieve anything in life.” Soon after losing NA 19 by-elections in Haripur, the PTI supporters and followers started criticising Reham, a few of them blamed her for this defeat. “I repeatedly said every time I was asked that I am not interested in contesting as those who do haven’t made Pakistan any better,” she tweeted, in reply to the criticism.
Imran also came to rescue Reham after seeing her being criticised by the PTI followers and supporters. He said, “I am appalled & disgusted by attacks on Reham after our loss in NA 19 elec. She only went to campaign there on insistence of the candidate.”
However, he also clarified, “PTI is opposed to all forms of nepotism. Reham Khan will not hold no party position, no position in KP; nor will be given any official protocol.” He further tweeted, “Reham Khan already has too much on her plate, esp working with street children. In future, she will not attend any PTI function/event”.
It is pertinent to mention here that after the PTI protest campaign and sit-in, the party has continuously lost all six by elections. Even in general elections 2013, PTI candidate Raja Amir Zaman was declared the returned candidate and secured 116,979 votes. PML-N’s candidate Omar Ayub Khan bagged 114,807 votes and later on he was declared winning candidate after challenging the result in election tribunal.
However, later the SC dismissed the tribunal’s decision and ordered for by-elections. This time, Reham led the PTI elections campaign but the party lost the elections with a huge margin resulting in huge criticism on her.